1994 Small v. Big Starter

[Three504spd]

Morning gang,
My starter died in the Blazer, I've had these trucks in the past so no big deal changing it out, but I was surprised when I pulled out a smaller than usual starter from the Blazer, went to Pep and they handed me the Big stater, will I have any trouble installing the big starter?

 

[L31MaxExpress]

Morning gang,
My starter died in the Blazer, I've had these trucks in the past so no big deal changing it out, but I was surprised when I pulled out a smaller than usual starter from the Blazer, went to Pep and they handed me the Big stater, will I have any trouble installing the big starter?

Assuming we are talking the Vortec style mini starter vs the traditional small block starter. Your bolts will be too short. The Vortec starter is also more powerful and tends to last longer.

 

[GarrettGmc]

There's 2 different style starters

 

[magimerlin]

Yes there is 2.. direct drive(large starter) and gear reduction(smaller starter) and yes they both interchange with each other but as mentioned, may need differant length bolts. As reference the bolts for my 94 z71 5.7 work on either starter.

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[east302]

The stock direct drive starter on my 98 used 4-5/16” long bolts. The knurled pattern needs to be roughly midway into the starter flange. There should be slight resistance at the pattern as they go in. If in doubt, I’d pick up some new bolts.

Are the face-to-face dimensions of the mounting flange the same for both starters? That is, when you put the bolts into the starter is the length of the exposed end the same for both starters?

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[someotherguy]

The "full size" starter should take a 4-5/8" bolt, instead of the 4-5/16" that the mini-starter takes. Previous reply shows correct bolt and engagement for the mini.

Using the wrong bolts can quickly spell doom for the starter. I'd go back with the same starter you removed - the mini.

Richard

 

[L31MaxExpress]

The "full size" starter should take a 4-5/8" bolt, instead of the 4-5/16" that the mini-starter takes. Previous reply shows correct bolt and engagement for the mini.

Using the wrong bolts can quickly spell doom for the starter. I'd go back with the same starter you removed - the mini.

Richard

I was thinking more doom for the engine block than the starter. A vortec starter will not even engage the flywheel with the longer bolts from the older starter.

 

[someotherguy]

I was thinking more doom for the engine block than the starter. A vortec starter will not even engage the flywheel with the longer bolts from the older starter.

Sure they will, if you do dumb **** like this:

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Where there's a will, there's a way...and broken block pad/starter/bolts soon to follow

Richard

 

[Kirth Gersen]

I started using a "mini" gear-reduction starter in my 94 Blazer w/ 5.7L TBI engine, and I will never use any other kind.
So much easier to work with, and frees up so much space under the truck.
Plus, I like the sound of gear-reduction starters ;-)

It took a while to figure out the correct starter & bolts, due to different sizes of flywheels, different # of teeth, etc.

What works in my 94 Blazer is:
Autozone DL9990S mini-starter (great warranty, BTW), 11t pinion, offset mount bolts, for 168t flywheel.
Bolts: GM # 12338064 (3/8”–16 x 4–5/16” under head length. Torque to 35 ft lbs).

I didn't need to use any shims between starter & block, gear clearances seemed fine as-is.

 

[flintlock]

yeah i learned this the hard way when doing my engine swap. The guy at NAPA gave me the longer bolts for my smaller starter creating a nice grinding sound when started.